Anti-Dreyfusard plotters repeatedly sought a general to lead a coup

Evidence

The best known of such attempts is that of Déroulède who sought, while attending the funeral of President Paul Faure, in February, 1899, to incite General Roget to mutiny. The German ambassadors and chargés d’affaires in Paris reported such attempts every few months. The situation is well summed up by Barres, op. cit., p. 4: “In Rennes we have found our battlefield. All we need is soldiers or, more precisely, generals—or, still more precisely, a general.” Only it was no accident that this general was non-existent. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2171

Categorization

• XREF: Shows the coup attempt that failed for lack of a commander, illustrating Arendt’s point about the mob’s need for a leader figure.